Shloka 23

Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच ततस्तस्मिन्‌ प्रतिज्ञाते भीष्मेण कुरुनन्दन

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca tatastasmīn pratijñāte bhīṣmeṇa kurunandana

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Als daraufhin Bhīṣma—die Zierde des Kuru-Geschlechts—so sein feierliches Gelübde abgelegt hatte…

Word by Word

• वैशम्पायनः: Vaiśampāyana
• वैशम्पायनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैशम्पायन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect (Paroksha-bhuta), Third, Singular

• ततः: then; thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• तस्मिन्: in that (situation/time)
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• प्रतिज्ञाते: when (it was) promised/pledged
• प्रतिज्ञाते: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्रतिज्ञात
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• भीष्मेण: by Bhīṣma
• भीष्मेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्म
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• कुरुनन्दन: O delight of the Kurus (O descendant/glory of the Kuru line)
• कुरुनन्दन: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरुनन्दन
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bhīṣma
• Kuru dynasty (Kuru)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the moral weight of a pratijñā (solemn vow): once a righteous warrior publicly commits himself, that promise becomes a binding ethical force that governs later choices and consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana marks a transition: after Bhīṣma has made a significant vow, the story proceeds from that pivotal commitment, treating it as the turning point for what follows.